How to keep fit while travelling

Heading away for the weekend? Or maybe you’re jet-setting for a longer trip? Either way, keeping up with our fitness while we’re out of town or overseas can be tricky. If you’re intent on getting your fitness fix while travelling then you probably want to make your workouts as convenient and stress-free as poss. None of us want to spend hours of our vacay fitting in exercise when we’ve got places to be and things to discover. So, we’ve got some tips for you to make staying active on your holiday or work trip a lot less difficult.

Keep it short

We mean, really short. Give yourself fifteen or twenty minutes as a time limit and get through as many exercises and sets as you can. That means keeping rest to an absolute minimum. Opt for high intensity moves like squat jumps, burpees, jumping lunges, mountain climbers, push presses and commandos to get more bang for your buck.

Make your hotel room your gym

Sometimes the hardest thing about training while travelling is actually finding the space to do it . Unless you’re blessed with a hotel gym then finding a park or facility that will let you visit can cause us to put our sesh in the too hard basket. Getting an effective workout in your hotel room is a sinch though! Try this quick workout:

20 tricep dips from a chair

20 body weight squats

20 push-ups with hands on a bench or couch

20 body weight lunges each leg

20 glute bridges from the floor

20 mountain climbers

20-second plank hold

Repeat as many times as you have time for (3-4 is awesome!)

Skip the taxi

Walking a new city is often the best way to explore it. Instead of taking a car, try walking to your destination when you can and take the scenic route (or the long way). Track your steps using your iPhone or fitness tracker and aim for 10 000 each day.

Bring your mat

Your travel workout doesn’t have to be a high rep circuit that leaves you covered in sweat. Take your yoga mat on holiday and fit 20-30 minutes of a flow sequence into your day. Wake up a little earlier to start your day or make your twenty minutes of yoga a pre-sleep ritual.

Set yourself a daily challenge

It doesn’t need to be huge or time consuming. Make it 100 squats or 5 minutes worth of plank holds. You can space them out during the day (get 50 lunges done before breakfast and 50 right before you sleep).

Take advantage of your surroundings

While a hotel room workout is awesome (and effective) there’s nothing like getting active outdoors especially when you’re in a new place. If you can find a hill, a set of stairs or a bench nearby, get creative and use it to your advantage. Try a few sets of hill or stair runs or use a bench for a workout with step-ups, push ups, box squats and split squats.